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The two objects were found about 22 kilometers apart in the southern Indian Ocean.

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In the middle of the night, two fishermen near the Malaysia-Thailand border saw a plane flying low over the South China Sea -- at the same time that air traffic controllers lost contact with Flight 370 over the same body of water, at 1:30 a.m. or almost 50 minutes after takeoff.

Fisherman Azid Ibrahim and a friend had taken people fishing that night off the coast of Kota Bharu.

"I was fishing when I saw the plane -- it looked strange. Flying low. I told my friend that's not normal. Normally, it flies at 35,000 feet. But that night it touched the clouds. I thought the pilot must be crazy," Ibrahim said.

"It was really low. I saw the lights they looked like the size of a coconut," he said.

Their fishing grounds lay under a flight path, but the predawn plane was unusual to see because of its low altitude, they said.

The fishermen filed a police report about their sighting, but Malaysian officials haven't commented.

A New Zealand man working on an oil rig off Vietnam claimed he saw a burning object in the sky Saturday morning, hours after the plane had taken off.

Mike McKay of New Zealand was stationed on the Sona-Mercur oil rig on seas about 186 miles southeast of Vung Tau, a coastal Vietnamese town outside Ho Chi Minh City, according to CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand.

"Gentlemen. I believe I saw the Malaysian Airlines flight come down. The timing is right. I tried to contact Malaysian and Vietnamese officials several days ago. But I do not know if the message has been received," he wrote last week. "I observed the plane burning at high altitude at a compass bearing of 265 to 275 degrees from our surface location.

"While I observed (the plane) it appeared to be in one piece. From when I first saw the burning (plane?) until the flames went out (at high altitude) was 10-15 seconds. There was no lateral movement so it was either coming toward our position stationary (falling) or going away from our location. The general position of the observation was perpendicular/south-west of the normal flight path and at a lower altitude than the normal flight paths," he wrote.

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 48 photos

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 37048 photos

Relatives of passengers from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on Thursday, February 12. Protesters demanded that the airline withdraw the statement made in January that all the passengers aboard the plane are dead. The plane, which disappeared on March 8, has not been found.

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The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 37048 photos

A policewoman watches a couple whose son was on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The search for the missing plane has been ongoing since early 2014.

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Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27. Data from communications between satellites and missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers say they requested that it be made public.

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Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14.

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A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13.

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The Echo moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12.

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A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9.

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A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8.

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Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris April 7, in the southern Indian Ocean.

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A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed April 7 off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield.

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A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4.

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A member of the Japanese coast guard points to a flight position data screen while searching for debris from the missing jet on April 1.

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A woman prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370 on March 30, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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A Royal New Zealand Air Force member launches a GPS marker buoy over the southern Indian Ocean on March 29.

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The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions.

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A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27.

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Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27.

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People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27.

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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24 in Kuala Lumpur. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived."

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Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24.

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Ground crew members wave to a Japanese Maritime Defense Force patrol plane as it leaves the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang, Malaysia, on March 23. The plane was heading to Australia to join a search-and-rescue operation.

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A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22.

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A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It is a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes are looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia.

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Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, shows debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could be from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials that they had spotted something raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search.

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Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight.

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A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19.

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A relative of a missing passenger tells reporters on March 18 in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet.

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U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations March 16, in the Indian Ocean.

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Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13. The search area for Flight 370 has grown wider. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, efforts are expanding west into the Indian Ocean.

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A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13.

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Malaysian air force members look for debris on March 13 near Kuala Lumpur.

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Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12.

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Indonesian air force officers in Medan, Indonesia, examine a map of the Strait of Malacca on March 12.

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A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11.

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Vietnam air force Col. Le Huu Hanh is reflected on the navigation control panel of a plane that is part of the search operation over the South China Sea on March 10.

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A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported March 8. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10.

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A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews before returning to search for the missing plane March 9, in the Gulf of Thailand.

Italian tourist Luigi Maraldi, who reported his passport stolen in August, shows his current passport during a news conference at a police station in Phuket island, Thailand, on March 9. Iranians Pouri Nourmohammadi and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza were identified by Interpol as the two men who used stolen passports to board the flight. But there's no evidence to suggest either was connected to any terrorist organizations, according to Malaysian investigators. Malaysian police believe Nourmohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport.

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Vietnamese air force crew stand in front of a plane at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 9 before heading out to the area between Vietnam and Malaysia where the airliner vanished.

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Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9.

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The Chinese navy warship Jinggangshan prepares to leave Zhanjiang Port early on March 9 to assist in search-and-rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. The Jinggangshan, an amphibious landing ship, is loaded with lifesaving equipment, underwater detection devices and supplies of oil, water and food.

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Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9. The vessel is carrying 12 divers and will rendezvous with another rescue vessel on its way to the area where contact was lost with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

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The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9.

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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8.

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A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8.

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Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8.

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Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference on March 8 at a hotel in Sepang. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said.

When the Vietnamese navy sent a plane to conduct a search, it found nothing, ABC News reported. Vietnamese naval officer Le Minh Thanh told that network that the plane investigated the area cited by McKay, but the search came up empty.

On a remote island in the Maldives, residents claimed they saw a "low flying jumbo jet" the same morning that the Malaysia plane disappeared, according to the website of the Maldivian news outlet Haveeru.

Residents on the isle of Kuda Huvadhoo in the Dhaalu Atoll gave a description that matched the commercial airliners: white with red stripes, according to the news outlet.

"I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We've seen seaplanes, but I'm sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly," an unidentified eyewitness said, according to Haveeru. "It's not just me either, several other residents have reported seeing the exact same thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too."

These claims, published in a story Tuesday, were dismissed by Malaysian officials.

The Maldives coast guard told CNN it had no reports of such sightings and had not even been requested to conduct a search.

The acting Malaysian transport minister also declared the reports false.

"I can confirm that the Malaysian Chief of the Defense Force has contacted his counterpart in the Maldives, who has confirmed that these reports are not true," Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a press conference.

The Maldives Ministry of Defense and National Security also confirmed that their radar systems and surveillance mechanisms show no indication of the missing plane.

Sighting claim: Off Indonesia coast

Indonesian fishermen claim they saw an airplane crash around the Strait of Malacca on the morning of March 9 -- more than a full day after the Malaysian plane took off -- the Indonesian state news agency Antara reported late Monday.

The strait lies between Indonesia and Malaysia. The Indonesia fishermen, based in the North Sumatra provincial subdistrict of Pangkalan Susu, went to sea for a week of fishing on March 9, a Sunday.

At 11 a.m., they saw a plane crash, Antara reported.

"We saw an airplane crash around the Malacca Straits," a fisherman identified as Hendra said, according to Antara.

The fishermen saw a white plane crossing and circling, Antara reported. Smoke came from the plane's right rear portion when it circled for a second round and tilted to the left, the agency said.

Flying lower, the plane then fell from sight.

"We suspect the plane crashed into the sea," Hendra said, according to Antara. "We could not go to the location where the aircraft was lost due to large waves, and the boat did not have enough fuel."

The aircraft is believed to have crashed in waters off the Aceh provincial district of East Aceh.

But there are two problems with these fishermen's account.

They spotted the plane more than 24 hours after it took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

And Indonesian military officials said their radar didn't spot Flight 370.

The Jakarta Post reported that Indonesian air force spokesman Air Commodore Hadi Tjahjanto said the Air Force's radar in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, didn't detect the missing flight in the area that the Malaysian military suggested was the plane's last detected position, around Penang waters.

"Our radar information has been shared with our Malaysian counterparts," the air force spokesman added, according to the Jakarta Post.